Leadership Briefings

Issue LB.90

This report by the Wellcome Trust presents data from a series of surveys that explored how neuroscience is affecting education and learning. The findings from the report suggest that there is a need to improve the evidence base for educational interventions which are based on neuroscience, and to support teachers in developing both their understanding of neuroscience and their ability to judge the evidence for any educational intervention.

In January 2014, temporary restrictions on the working rights of Romanian and Bulgarian citizens in the UK were lifted. This report outlines the potential impacts of new migration flows from eastern Europe and identifies the key lessons UK policymakers can take from the previous wave of new migration, in 2004.

This study by Dr Tom Stafford from the University of Sheffield shows that learning is much more effective when spaced out over stretches of time rather than last-minute exam cramming. The study examined how more than 850,000 people improved skills playing an online game. It showed leaving a day between practice sessions was a much better way of gaining skills than continuous play. The study suggests that learning can be improved. You can learn more efficiently or use the same practice time to learn to a higher level.

The Supreme Court has recently ruled that schools have a duty of care towards their pupils that, in certain circumstances, cannot be delegated. But what are these ‘non-delegable duties of care’, and what are the implications for your school? David Rawlinson explains.

This report by Policy Exchange looks at the introduction of performance pay in schools. Performance pay has been implemented in other countries without adverse effects, and the report finds that overwhelmingly teachers want to be paid based on the quality of their teaching. The report stresses that the implemented system must be fair and transparent and sets out what a well-designed system would look like.

This DfE report contains analysis of the data collected through a voluntary quarterly survey, covering the characteristics of children who were at any stage in the adoption process and analysis of the timeliness of their progress in the adoption system.

UK universities are well placed to reap the benefits of the continuing growth in demand for a British higher education, according to this report by OC&C Strategy Consultants and Google, with fee income from international students expected to increase by about 10% per annum to £12 billion in 2020.

This year’s Family Spending Survey by the Office for National Statistics suggests that the digital divide affecting the nation’s young people is closing. The data shows that the number of children who don’t have access to a PC and the Internet at home has fallen below the half a million mark for the first time. It is now appears a realistic objective that every school age child in the country will be able to get on-line at home within the next 2-3 years.

This NFER report looks at child neglect and investigated how to effectively support families with different levels of need across the early intervention spectrum to engage with services within an overall framework of neglect.

This study by Academia finds that despite an overwhelming 92 per cent of schools in agreement that Wi-Fi is vital to today’s learning environment, two in five (40 per cent) admit their wireless network doesn't adequately match their investment in classroom technology.

Children would rather read books that make them laugh than stories featuring TV characters, according to this research by Pearson. It found that one in five of the books chosen by 100,000 children in more than 3,000 schools were in the “Laugh out Loud” category.

This research by Casio, conducted with IT buyers in the UK, found that nearly half of UK schools shun Ofsted guidelines when allocating their schools IT/AV budget. Internal politics from colleagues, senior management and conflicting departmental priorities, force IT buyers into pressurised purchase decisions that don’t follow official guidelines – meaning UK schools are left unprepared for future IT guidelines.